-
Wales defeated Scotland 27-23 in their Six Nations clash at the Principality Stadium
-
Vern Cotter’s men led 13-10 at the break thanks to Tommy Seymour’s try combined with eight points from Greig Laidlaw
-
Tries from Jamie Roberts and George North after the restart completed the turnaround for the hosts
-
Duncan Taylor scored a late consolation but could not prevent a ninth consecutive defeat in the tournament
George North returned to form in superb fashion to score the match-winning try for Wales and maintain Warren Gatland’s unbeaten record against Scotland.
Scotland, who had made 188 metres in the first-half compared to 115 by Wales, deservedly led 13-10 at the break. Gareth Davies had opened the scoring with his try for the hosts, but Tommy Seymour replied soon after to level the scores, 7-7.
Dan Biggar and Greig Laidlaw, who had both converted their side’s earlier tries, traded penalties before the Scottish captain, on the brink of half-time, struck the visitors into a three-point lead.
Wales levelled soon after the restart through Biggar, but Laidlaw responded to edge the Dark Blues back in front.
However, tries from Jamie Roberts and North, both converted by Biggar, completed the turnaround as Wales recorded their first win of the 2016 Six Nations.
Duncan Taylor was able to dot down a consolation try late on with Duncan Weir converting.
MATCH ACTION
Wales made the initial breakthrough when Gareth Davies raced through to dot down after just 6 minutes following some good build up play from Jamie Roberts. There was a quick check with the TMO to see if Roberts had knocked on but it was all clear, and the try was given. Biggar then converted to give Wales a seven-point lead.
The visitors responded five minutes later as Finn Russell put in a little cross field kick, which was superbly collected by Tommy Seymour, who dived over for the score in the corner. It was a tough touchline conversion, but Greig Laidlaw nailed it to level the scores, 7-7.
Laidlaw and Biggar then traded penalties before the Scottish captain slotted another kick on the edge of half-time to give Scotland a 13-10 lead at the break.
Biggar leveled for Wales soon after the restart as the hosts began the second half very much on top, however, despite their dominance Scotland edged back in front through Laidlaw’s boot yet again after 54 minutes, 13-16.
Wales though had a second try through Jamie Roberts after 64 minutes to recapture the lead. The centre powered through two defenders on the crash ball for his 10th Test try before Biggar confidently added the conversion to give the hosts a four-point lead, 20-16.
And the hosts were clear soon after as North went over for a fine individual score. From the scrum, the winger came off his flank and ran through midfield as he used his pace to get around the cover tackle and score. Biggar converted again to give the hosts an 11-point lead.
Scotland though finished with a flourish as Taylor flew past Gareth Anscombe to dot down his first Test try with Duncan Weir knocking over the conversion to complete the game scoring, 27-23.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tom James, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Sam Warburton (c), 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Rob Evans
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Gareth Anscombe
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Willem Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Blair Cowan, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont
Date: Saturday, February 13
Venue: Millennium Stadium
Kick-off: 16:50 GMT
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: John Lacey (Ireland), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)